Energy Action: NYMEX crude is trading under $50.40 Energy Action: NYMEX crude is trading under $50.40 into the N.Y. open, after touching $51.24 highs after the close on Wednesday. Comments from Saudi Arabia's oil minister, who said the demand picture appears to be firming up, was behind the rally. On the other side of the coin, U.S. inventories remain at record highs, and estimates of excess supply of as much as 1.5 M bpd will likely prevent crude prices from moving much higher for now. April RBOB gasoline futures remain firm over $1.92/gallon, after surging more than 9 cents on Wednesday. A larger than expected EIA inventory draw, along with ongoing refinery labor and outage issues have supported this week. Average U.S. retail gasoline prices are up another 2 cents/gallon to $2.34, and up 7 cents over the past week, according to AAA. Natural gas prices have eased back into the $2.81 level, as moderating U.S. temperatures reduce demand.

Standard & Poor's to hold a webinarWebinar entitled, "Streamlining Risk Management Across the Front & Middle Office" explores how portfolio and risk managers can interact and leverage advanced portfolio analytics to protect against market uncertainty will be held on February 26 at 11 am. Webcast Link

Averages drift in record territoryEach of the major stock averages is in positive territory in afternoon trading, which means a new record for the Dow and S&P and another step closer to 5,000 for the Nasdaq. The averages have drifted for most of the session, with most of the time being spent near the flat line, though all turned positive near noon. Despite the slight gains in the market the number of advancing stocks are ahead of declining stocks by more than 5:4. Near 2:30 pm EST, the Dow is up 10 points, the Nasdaq is up 6 points and the S&P is up 1 point.